Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Meat preparation was our last subject, so this time we'll move on to the preparation of your fire. Important choices to make in the smoking process include which wood variety to smoke with and what type of charcoal. When choosing your smoking wood, you first need to exclude any soft woods like pine or poplar. They contain saps and resins which turn into creosote when burned. Who wants their brisket to taste like a railroad tie? That still leaves an incredible amount of hardwoods to choose from. Most of the fruitwoods like apple, pear, or pecan wood will have been subjected to repeated pesticide baths during its life, and those pesticides will release themselves into the meat, so steer clear unless you know the source. For the other hardwoods that remain, the important components are their level of moisture and the flavors they impart The arguments that usually ensue about which wood usually comes down to flavor. Alton Brown argues in his "Q" episode, that it takes about 6 hours of smoking before the particular varietal overtones are noticeable in the meat.

Another good resource for wood flavor explanations is Smokalicious, and check SteelTown BBQ for an in depth explanation of wood smoke. I can't tell you which wood to choose. The best I can suggest is to experiment, but when you do, make sure the wood has a good level of moisture (soak dry wood in water with a dab of liquid soap for at least an hour before cooking) because dry wood will burn very hot with little smoke, and that's far from the point in low-and-slow smoking. Also, remove the bark because it may contain mold spores, bugs or other pests that you don't want in your fire. On to the second ingredient of your fire...the charcoal.

Charcoal is available in briquettes and lump form. Check out Serious Eats for a good comparison of the two. The creation of lump charcoal is easy to explain. You take wood, burn it in a oxygen deprived environment to drive out moisture and other impurities, and you're left with wood char. Briquettes have a few more ingredients. According to Kingsford, their ingredients are:

wood char: for heatmineral char: also for heatmineral carbon: also for heatlimestone: for the light-ash colorstarch: to bind the other ingredientsborax: press releasesodium nitrate: to speed the ignitionsawdust: to speed the ignition

From this list, you can see why purists are so adamant about the use of lump charcoal. It simply seems like a pure product in comparison. It also burns hotter, lights easier, and leaves less ash behind than briquettes, but who needs those arguments when you got purity on your side? Either way you go, just know that those who use briquettes look like amatuers, so be sure to have some quick and reasonable comebacks ready for anyone who questions you if you choose briquettes.

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DISCLAIMER:

Each joint is judged on the essence of Texas 'cue...sliced brisket and pork ribs. Sausage is only considered if house made. Sauce is good, but good meat needs no adornment to satisfy. Each review can only be based on specific cuts of meat on that particular day. Finally, if the place fries up catfish or serves a caesar salad, then chances are they aren't paying enough attention to the pits, so we mostly steered clear.

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GLOSSARY

Crust - Layer of black goodness around the edges of brisket or ribs that holds excellent flavor.

Meat Caramel - After gratuitous amounts of smoke are applied, and liquid rendered fat has come to the surface of the meat to mix with the applied rub, a chemical rendering takes place that creates a sweet sticky layer on the surface of the meat that clings to the tip of your finger when pulled away from the meat. This is affectionately known as meat snot.

Parboiled - A process in which ribs are boiled before being grilled or smoked. This is what makes meat fall off the bone, and it also leaves good, flavorful fat in the water. It's cheating.Rendered - The process of cooking fat until it literally melts into the meat. Cook it too fast and the fat is absent from the meat creating dryness. If it's not cooked long enough, the fat remains gelatinous and unsavory. There's no need to put well rendered fat aside.Roast-Beefy - Brisket that hasn't been bathed in smoke, but rather tastes as if it was thrown in an oven like any hunk of roast beef. It might be good food, but it's not BBQ.Sauced - Unsolicited BBQ sauce slathered over top of your meat, usually to add what was non-existent flavor in the meat.Smoke Line - Red line around the outside edge of sliced brisket just below the crust that signifies an adequate amount of time in the smoker.Sugar Cookie - Fat that turns to a slightly sweet and crispy flavorful nugget after copius amounts of smoke are applied.